Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious lifestyle, was neither happy nor content.
One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked.
This fascinated the King. Why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy?
The King asked the servant, "Why are you so happy?"
The man replied, "Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don't need too much - just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies."
The king was not satisfied with that reply.
Later in the day, he sought the advice of his most trusted advisor.
After hearing the King's woes and the servant's story, the advisor said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has not joined Club-99."
"Club-99? What exactly is that?" the King inquired.
The advisor replied, "Your Majesty, to truly know what Club-99 is, place 99 gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant's doorstep."
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When the servant saw the bag, he took it into his house.
When he opened the bag, he let out a great shout of joy... So many gold coins!
He began to count them.
After several counts, he was at last convinced that there were 99 coins.
He wondered, "What could have happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99 coins!" He looked everywhere he could, but that final coin was elusive.
Finally, exhausted, he decided that he was going to work harder than ever to earn that gold coin and complete his collection.
From that day, the servant's life was changed.
He was overworked, horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping him make that 100th gold coin. He stopped singing while he worked.
Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled.
When he sought his advisor's help, the advisor said, "Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined Club-99."
He continued, "Club-99 is a name given to those people who have enough to be happy but are never contented. They're always yearning for more and striving for that extra 1 gold coin. They always tell themselves that they must get that final coin before they can be happy for life."
We can be happy, even with very little in our lives.
But the moment we're given something bigger and better, we want even more! We lose our sleep, our happiness, and we hurt the people around us.
All these and much more are the price for our growing needs and desires as we join the miserable Club-99.
One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked.
This fascinated the King. Why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy?
The King asked the servant, "Why are you so happy?"
The man replied, "Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don't need too much - just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies."
The king was not satisfied with that reply.
Later in the day, he sought the advice of his most trusted advisor.
After hearing the King's woes and the servant's story, the advisor said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has not joined Club-99."
"Club-99? What exactly is that?" the King inquired.
The advisor replied, "Your Majesty, to truly know what Club-99 is, place 99 gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant's doorstep."
------------------------------------------------
When the servant saw the bag, he took it into his house.
When he opened the bag, he let out a great shout of joy... So many gold coins!
He began to count them.
After several counts, he was at last convinced that there were 99 coins.
He wondered, "What could have happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99 coins!" He looked everywhere he could, but that final coin was elusive.
Finally, exhausted, he decided that he was going to work harder than ever to earn that gold coin and complete his collection.
From that day, the servant's life was changed.
He was overworked, horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping him make that 100th gold coin. He stopped singing while he worked.
Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled.
When he sought his advisor's help, the advisor said, "Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined Club-99."
He continued, "Club-99 is a name given to those people who have enough to be happy but are never contented. They're always yearning for more and striving for that extra 1 gold coin. They always tell themselves that they must get that final coin before they can be happy for life."
We can be happy, even with very little in our lives.
But the moment we're given something bigger and better, we want even more! We lose our sleep, our happiness, and we hurt the people around us.
All these and much more are the price for our growing needs and desires as we join the miserable Club-99.
4 comments:
November 24, 2008 at 7:50 PM
beautiful story. Indeed we need to take stock of our lives and start to enjoy what we have.
November 25, 2008 at 1:34 AM
I am glad I am not a part of Club-99 for I truly am satisfied and have all I need! Praise the Lord!
November 25, 2008 at 9:36 AM
godliness with contentment is great gain.
December 3, 2008 at 3:40 PM
Really nice story. Your site content of positive stories is very nice. please put more stories
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